Lingerie giant Victoria's Secret unveiled their 'What Is Sexy' list for 2017 last week, and while we love the ladies chosen, let's just say it was slightly problematic.
"This Is Us" star Mandy Moore won for sexiest actress, while singer Taylor Swift was dubbed sexiest entertainer. Author Lauren Conrad is the brand's sexiest mogul, and Billie Lourd has the sexiest sense of humour.
While all these women are wonderful in their own rights, it's not difficult to notice a trend here.
The vast majority of recipients on the list are young, white and skinny, which can imply that anyone outside this scope is not considered by the brand to be "sexy."
And although the list was chosen by public vote, Victoria's Secret still claims the winners reflect the company's ideals too.
"That's what sexy means to us," the company said on the site. 'And that's what all the winners of our annual round-up embody. From artists to athletes, these women (and men!) are at the top of their game, and inspire us to work harder and keep it sexy everyday."
Regardless, Pauline Maclaran, professor of marketing and consumer research at the University of London, recently told Refinery29 that she thinks the company's target audience is ready for something new.
"Victoria’s Secret did a very good job of making sexy underwear accessible to women and tapping into the fantasy elements of femininity," she said. "[But] young women want to be able to see all body types as beautiful."
Out of a total of 24 winners, only a few women of colour were featured, which include Vanessa Hudgens, Priyanka Chopra and Jamie Chung. No older women or curvy girls were included.
As for gender diversity, comedian and late night TV host James Corden was the only man featured, with no trans or non-gender conforming people among the options.
This list comes as a bit of a disappointment, seeing as last season's Victoria's Secret runway show was its most diverse yet. But that didn't stop people from taking to Twitter to share their views.
Yikes.
On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson, who is of black Canadian and Samoan decent, was chosen as People magazine's sexiest man of 2016. As for women, superstar Beyoncé was dubbed the world's most beautiful woman alive by the glossy in 2012. However, Black America Web notes that women of colour are generally snubbed by other publications.
Seems like it could be time for Victoria's Secret to update their definition of "sexy" too.
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